What drives the price
Where the teacher lives. This is the biggest factor by far. A private-tutor rate that is professional in Bengaluru is a third or less of one in Boston. The session is the same hour; the rent behind it is not.
Live or recorded. A recorded class costs the platform nothing to deliver twice, so it is priced like software. A live one-to-one hour is an hour of a qualified person's time, so it is priced like a lesson.
Training. A 200-hour Yoga Alliance certificate is the entry ticket. Teachers with clinical training, or a specialism like prenatal or therapeutic yoga, charge more in every market. Ask what the qualification actually is, not just what the acronym says.
How you pay. Per session is the most expensive way to buy and the most flexible. Packs of five or ten lower the per-session price. Subscriptions lower it further for heavy users and raise it for everyone else, because the month runs out whether you practise or not.
Per session or subscription?
Work out how often you will realistically practise, then multiply. Twice a week on a $120-a-month subscription is $15 a session, which is excellent. Twice a month is $60 a session, which is not. If your weeks are unpredictable, a pack that never expires removes the pressure to “use it up”, and that pressure is the quiet reason most people stop.
Six questions to ask before you pay
- Is the session live, with my camera on and the teacher watching me?
- Do I get the same teacher each time, or whoever is free?
- What is the teacher's actual qualification, beyond the acronym?
- What happens if I cancel before the start? Do I lose the session?
- Does anything expire, and is there a subscription I need to remember to stop?
- Is there a refund policy, in writing, for a first session that was not right?
Our answers, for the record: live, yes; same teacher, yes; degrees in yoga and naturopathy, listed on each teacher's page; cancel before the start and the session returns to your account; nothing expires and there is no subscription; and the refund policy is public.